To balance out the burgers and dogs we’re hurling onto the grill all summer, this week we’re ignoring the beef and turning to broccoli, quinoa, tofu, and other staples of the vegetarian canon. Starting with the crunchy favorites from the Moosewood era of brown rice and lentils, and moving towards more modern vegetarian obsessions like avocado toast, we enlisted the help of vegetarian food lovers—from bloggers to cookbook authors to veggie-focused photographers—all of whom live and love the habit of eating vegetables, grains, and nuts.

Even if you’re not fully vegetarian but merely a vegetable enthusiast or flexitarian of some kind, you’ll find the essentials you need to eat the best vegetarian and vegan food around.

One common thread we discovered among our vegetarian specialists was the emphasis on sauces and condiments, from ginger-scallion dressing to romesco sauce, and from hummus to almond butter. These rich extras have the ability to turn any vegetarian dish from rabbit food into hearty, satisfying fare.

Don’t tempt fate with an untested veggie burger that crumbles to nothing in the heat of your pan. Instead, follow the recommendation of our vegetable-loving experts:

Deborah Madison, best-selling author of Vegetable Literacy, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, and Vegetarian SuppersKathryne Taylor, vegetarian blogger at Cookie and Kate.Aurelia d’Andrea, former editorial director of VegNews Magazine, frequent contributor to Vegetarian Times, and the author of Moon: Living Abroad in France (2012) and Moon: Metro Paris (2014).Joey Lee, recipe editor and partnerships manager of The Monday Campaigns, which runs Meatless Monday, an initiative to help people start each week with meat-free mealsLukas Volger, the author of Veggie Burgers Every Which Way and Vegetarian Entrees that Won’t Leave You Hungry, and co-founder of the soon-to-launch product line Made by LukasRachel Hofstetter, author of Cooking Up a Business (Penguin, out this fall)Erin Alderson, recipe developer and photographer behind Naturally Ella, a vegetarian, whole foods blogCara Eisenpress, editor at Big Girls, Small Kitchen, author of In the Small Kitchen, and First We Feast contributor

1. Hummus

Best recipe: Sassy RadishCara Eisenpress says: Rich, homemade hummus has little in common with the store-bought, pre-packaged stuff. Soaking and cooking your own chickpeas is a slow but easy task with a big reward. Blend the warm beans with a lot of olive oil and spoonfuls of tahini to create a rich, addictive dip you’ll want to have a jar of in the fridge at all times.

2. Frittata

Best recipe: Edible PerspectiveErin Alderson says: One of my main issues with vegetarian frittatas is people often skimp on the filling. This sweet potato and spinach frittata from Edible Perspective is packed full of hearty sweet potatoes and spinach.

3. Romesco Sauce

Best recipe:Love and LemonsDeborah Madison says: This Romesco sauce is one that people always want the recipe for. It’s rich with almonds and hazelnuts, garlic, olive oil, sherry vinegar, and tomatoes. Since most Roma tomatoes are so bland, I’ve taken to leaving them out and adding a little tomato paste instead, at least until the real tomatoes come in, and that works too.
This is a sauce that can also go a lot of places. Sometimes I put it on crostini with green olives for an appetizer. It’s awfully good with grilled vegetables, especially with leeks and onions, and also with potatoes.

4. Momofuku Ginger-Scallion Sauce

Best recipe: SaveurLukas Volger says: Having a tub of ginger-scallion sauce on hand makes every meal an exciting adventure. Pour it over noodles you've got a quick meal that allows plenty of room for interpretation, but it's fun to play around with, too—dollop it over slabs of grilled tofu, add it to a sandwich, stir it into a bowl of cold leftover roasted or steamed veggies, or even scrambled or poached eggs.

5. Homemade Seitan

Best recipe: Post Punk KitchenAurelia d’Andrea says: Seitan’s inherently bland flavor and chewy texture create all kinds of possibilities for creative seasoning and recipe-developing. I love the Post Punk Kitchen, and I really love this recipe.

6. Tacos

Best recipe: Love and LemonsErin Alderson says: Tacos top my list because they are extremely easy to make vegetarian and still have full flavor. These miso-maple sweet potato tacos with cilantro-coconut sauce pack an extreme fusion flavor that can't be beat.

7. Quinoa Salad

Best recipe:Ezra PoundcakeLukas Volger says: Learning how to properly toast my quinoa upped my quinoa salad game in a big way. This specific salad, from Maria Simmons's Quick and Fast Vegetarian, is delicious, as all of Simmons' recipes are, but the main takeaway is the non-wimpy toasting step: a solid 10 minutes, stirring, over a relatively high flame.

8. Okonomiyaki

Best recipe: Food52Rachel Hofstetter says: This Japanese pancake is my go-to recipe for three reasons: It's packed with vegetables (I at least double the amount in the recipe); cabbage is one cheap vegetable year-round and is always somewhat in-season; and the mayo-soy sauce-chili sauce takes it from healthy staple to addictive, crave-worthy status. Sold.

9. Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Best recipe:White on Rice CoupleAurelia d’Andrea says: Fresh spring rolls look complicated but are really simple to make, and they lend themselves to using whatever produce is in season. This is a fab recipe (with tutorial) for beginners.

10. Panzanella

Best recipe: The First MessKathryne Taylor says: Salads turn into a full meal when you add cooked grains or bread. Laura at the First Mess puts her own spin on classic panzanella by combining fresh spring flavors with chickpeas and toasted whole grain bread.

11. Falafel

Best recipe: Vegetarian SkinnyJoey Lee says: Chickpeas are purred with lemon juice, garlic, tahini, and cilantro before they are formed into patties and cooked on the griddle. A yogurt cucumber sauce contrasts with the falafel to refresh the palate, while feta cheese lends its signature tang.

12. Veggie Burger

Best recipe: 101 CookbooksKathryne Taylor says: I love flavorful veggie burgers that aren't trying to taste like meat. I can bring my own to a cookout and not feel like I'm missing out on the main course. Veggie burgers can be a little carb-heavy because they usually contain a grain and are sandwiched between buns. In this recipe, Heidi bypasses that conundrum with her lentil burgers by using the burgers themselves as the buns—just slice in half and stuff.

13. Homemade Almond Butter

Best recipe:Food in JarsCara Eisenpress says: Peanut butter may be the first spread that vegetarians think of for a delicious and hearty injection of protein and fat, but this homemade almond butter, made with toasted almonds sweetened with maple syrup should be right up there. Marisa McClellan is a dedicated jam maker, but this nut butter needs no strawberry jelly to make it great. It’s incredibly easy to make in the food processor.

14. Pizza

Best recipe: Cookie and KateErin Alderson says: Pizza is similar to tacos in that it's super easy to experiment with vegetarian toppings, including fruit. The flavors of this pizza are perfect!

15. Spicy Peanut Dip

Best recipe: Vegetarian Cooking for EveryoneLukas Volger says: This gem from Deborah Madison's opus Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is a great alternative to the usual Mediterranean-style dips that show up in picnic spreads. Thinned out a bit with warm water or coconut milk, it makes an excellent dressing for salads and cold noodles.

16. Veggie Skewers

Best recipe: My New RootsErin Alderson says: I think these skewers speak for themselves. There's a lot of inventive vegetarian grilling ideas out there, but one can't go wrong with grilled fruit and cheese.

17. Rice Noodle Salad

Best recipe: Vegetarian TimesAurelia d’Andrea says: Filling and flavorful, this is the best one-dish summertime meal ever. Everyone I’ve ever served it, everyone pleads for the recipe.

18. Baked Tofu

Best recipe: The KitchnCara Eisenpress says: Turn this flexible vegetarian staple into something truly palatable with a tried-and-true technique: drain the tofu of its excess liquid, then marinate it in any flavor you like, from soy sauce to homemade vinaigrette. Cook the tofu, turning it once, until it has become denser and absorbed all the marinade. The resulting tofu has a great texture and is flavored throughout, perfect for snacking on or using in salads or sandwiches.

19. Avocado Toast

Best recipe: Cookie and KateCara Eisenpress says: Morning, noon, night, and midnight are all appropriate times for a serving of toast lavishly smeared with avocado and seasoned with a pinch of salt and a squeeze of lime juice. This recipe has excellent ideas for little extras, from shaved radish (which I heartily recommend) to hot sauce.

20. Savory Chickpea-Flour Cake (Farinata)

Best recipe: La Cucina di TerresaAurelia d’Andrea says: Learning to cook with chickpea flour was a revelation. This recipe comes from a Parisian chef who has never created a dish that wasn’t to-die-for delicious.

21. Creamy Sorrel Sauce

Best recipe:Yotam OttolenghiDeborah Madison says: One recipe I have used a lot and am really grateful for from Ottolenghi is a sauce of yogurt and raw sorrel. I grow sorrel and love it, but I had never thought to use it raw in a sauce, thinking—if I thought at all—that it would be too acidic. But it’s not. Instead, it makes a very refreshing sauce, perfect for hot weather.

22. Grilled Cheese

Best recipe: TastespottingCara Eisenpress says: If you’ve ever been on a road trip, you might have relied on grilled cheese sandwiches for weeks at a time, as they’re sometimes the only real vegetarian option at road-side diners. At home, vegetarians take their grilled cheese game to the next level. This incredible recipe adds a lot of green—spinach, pesto, and avocado.

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